twelve months of 30 day challenges

touchy feely

Prepare for things to get a little warm and fuzzy up in here. I finally finished working my way through The Desire Map and it was challenging in so many good ways.

The book is all about drilling down to your core desired feelings and then letting those feelings inform your goal setting. I love this idea because it’s so easy to make a check list (and I LOVE lists) of things to accomplish that sound good but I don’t often stop to think about what I’m really trying to get out of all those to-dos. This really forced me to dig deep and think about the way I want to feel which is a lot harder than it might sound (hence the reason it took me 2+ months to get through the book!). So, without going into too much detail on the process, I wanted to share my end result here. Below are my core desired feelings and what they mean to me.

N O U R I S H E D

Nourished in mind and body. To me this means eating in a way that makes me feel satisfied and energized. It also means reading, watching and listening to things that lift me up and make me feel inspired and curious. Don’t get me wrong, there will still be room for the occasional doughnut or trashy TV show because those things can be equally nourishing in moderation.

F L O W

Flow is a state of being fully immersed in the activity at hand. I watched this TED talk a while ago which outlines the theory of flow and immediately understood that feeling of being intensely involved and focused. I see glimpses of flow when I’m working on a creative project, when I’m cooking, crossfitting and when I’m “flowing” in my yoga practice. I want to tap into that feeling more often and find ways to incorporate that flow in my career.

B R A V E L Y V U L N E R A B L E

Brene Brown is probably not a new name to a lot of people since her TED talk (notice a theme here?) on vulnerability went viral last year. A friend showed me her video which inspired me to read her book – Daring Greatly. Her concepts stuck with me. I want to be emotionally honest, show up, be open to being seen and live with joy and gratitude. Sounds so simple, right? HA!

C O N N E C T E D

Connected first to myself, second to my husband and baby girl as well as my to my larger group of family and friends. Will I sound like too much of a hippy if I also say I want to feel more connected to nature? I want to get outside more and I want to not only make time but make quality time for those I love.

There they are! It feels good (and a little scary) to put them out there! I’ve set a few goals that ladder up to these feelings for the year that I’ll post separately. I fully intend on revisiting all of this after baby girl has been here for a few months – maybe it will still apply but maybe not. Goals need to evolve and be refined so checking back in will be key. Overall, I’m excited for this year and for a fresh new perspective and strategy to get to where I want to be. I see some big changes on the horizon.